In the Pilbara, the design process is underway for upgrades to the Karratha and South Hedland wastewater treatment plants to support reliable wastewater services for growing communities and future demand. These upgrades are intended to improve the performance, resilience and long-term operability of critical water infrastructure, while ensuring the plants can continue to meet treatment requirements under changing operational conditions. At this stage, the projects are progressing through planning and concept development, with investigations underway to define the preferred upgrade scope and supporting infrastructure.

During the concept and detailed design phases, Coretex Consulting’s Human Factors Engineering (HFE) work focuses on ensuring the upgraded plants can be safely and efficiently operated, maintained and monitored once delivered. Wastewater treatment facilities involve a wide range of interconnected processes, including inlet works, screening, biological treatment, chemical dosing, sludge handling and associated pumping and control systems. This makes the concept design stage particularly important for embedding human-centred design principles into the arrangement of process areas, operator access routes, control environments and maintenance interfaces. By considering operator tasks, access requirements, visibility, manual handling risks and the ergonomics of routine interactions, the design team can reduce operational risk and support efficient plant activities.